Type 2 diabetes - any advice/help/comments

[skeggysteve]

My Wife has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Obviously I/we have been on Google but I really like some real life information.

I understand it's a diet thing but one nurse has said one thing and another has said another.

So real life advice please.

I will read all replies but I might not answer all, hope you understand. Thanks in advance for any help/replies.

[N Dentressangle]

Your wife needs to lose weight. Studies show that sufficient weight loss = no more diabetes. It depends on her willpower and determination not to have diabetes.

Look at the Counterpoint study by Roy Taylor in Newcastle:

http://www.practicaldiabetes.com/SpringboardWebApp...

Good luck.

[DSLiverpool]

Has she started medication yet? They will probably give her metformin which makes it very hard to lose weight.
Thing is its not just type 2 now, they will treat her for blood pressure, eyes, feet and cholesterol - she will be a regular at the docs from now on.

You will also get free prescriptions, if she was male you get Viagra by default

I've had it 5 years because I'm a fat git at 17stone and when first diagnosed and cutting out auger etc I lost 2 stone but once I started on the drugs the weight loss stopped.

No excuses I'm a lazy fat git and need to get my finger out, I'm just telling you how it effects Me

So no surgery cans, breakfast is Always weetabix as it does help my blood sugar, personally I don't monitor my blood daily I know if I'm high or low and regulate food but not obsessively - I'm a regular 6/7 which cold be lower but I still drink, eat everything I want and don't worry about it that much.

Right now it's the centre of your universe but once nt a routine it will be secondary.

Don't worry

Apologies or iPad spelling

[goldblum]

N Dentressangle said:

Your wife needs to lose weight. Studies show that sufficient weight loss = no more diabetes.

Good luck.

In a nutshell.

[E38Ross]

Harsh diet with much less sugar, lots of healthy foods along with some cardio exercise and weight loss will help every bit as much as medication. Most people are too lazy to do this though sadly.

[zygalski]

It's unofficially known as lazy persons disease.
As above, diet + regular exercise (even brisk walking) = no more type 2.

[E38Ross]

Forgot to add, studies also show thin underactive people are more likely to have type 2 diabetes than overweight but active people.

Not being rude, just honest, but get her to lose weight and do regular exercise (and I don't mean 30mins at the gym once a week doing 5 mins on the treadmill, 5mins weights and 20mins walking and stretching. She needs cardio, not strength training too.

[LBird]

Use the Diabetes UK web-site: http://www.diabetes.org.uk/ It is a thoroughly reputable organistation whose research and educational resources are used by the NHS.

If your wife doesn't automatically get a referral from her GP to an educational seminar for those newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, (not all NHS trusts run them) then she should ask her GP for a referral to a Dietitian for proper advice on how to eat healthily with type 2 diabetes.

Metformin has different effects on different people: for some it makes weight loss difficult (as mentioned by other posters) but for others it's the opposite.

HTH

[Roger645]

zygalski said:

It's unofficially known as lazy persons disease.
As above, diet + regular exercise (even brisk walking) = no more type 2.

Really!?

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Celebrity-...

[zygalski]

Roger645 said:

zygalski said:

It's unofficially known as lazy persons disease.
As above, diet + regular exercise (even brisk walking) = no more type 2.

Really!?

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Celebrity-...

Yawn.
The exception which proves the rule.
... And Premiership footballers can suffer heart attacks...
How many type 2's are obese according to their BMI? 90%+ I should imagine.

[Roger645]

zygalski said:

Roger645 said:

zygalski said:

It's unofficially known as lazy persons disease.
As above, diet + regular exercise (even brisk walking) = no more type 2.

Really!?

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Celebrity-...

Yawn.
The exception which proves the rule.
... And Premiership footballers can suffer heart attacks...
How many type 2's are obese according to their BMI? 90%+ I should imagine.

Not really a yawn is it, the OP came here asking for help and your useful response was to suggest it's a lazy persons disease and the vast majority are obese despite you have no facts to support either of your comments with regards to the OP's wife.

[E38Ross]

Roger645 said:

Not really a yawn is it, the OP came here asking for help and your useful response was to suggest it's a lazy persons disease and the vast majority are obese despite you have no facts to support either of your comments with regards to the OP's wife.

well actually if you look at research, GENERALLY speaking, type 2 diabetics are lazy/unfit people with poor diets.

so he had type 2 diabetes, i bet it was very well controlled by his diet and exercise and suspect he didn't need much (if any) medication.

read some journal articles and come back to us.

[zygalski]

Roger645 said:

zygalski said:

Roger645 said:

zygalski said:

It's unofficially known as lazy persons disease.
As above, diet + regular exercise (even brisk walking) = no more type 2.

Really!?

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Celebrity-...

Yawn.
The exception which proves the rule.
... And Premiership footballers can suffer heart attacks...
How many type 2's are obese according to their BMI? 90%+ I should imagine.

Not really a yawn is it, the OP came here asking for help and your useful response was to suggest it's a lazy persons disease and the vast majority are obese despite you have no facts to support either of your comments with regards to the OP's wife.

I suggested weight loss & exercise. The harsh truth is that at the point of diagnosis, the vast majority of type 2's are overweight & lead sedentary lives.
Dressing things up by posting a link to Steve Redgrave is only going to muddy the water. Ask your GP what the main causes of type 2 diabetes are & let me know what they say

[Roger645]

zygalski said:

Roger645 said:

zygalski said:

Roger645 said:

zygalski said:

It's unofficially known as lazy persons disease.
As above, diet + regular exercise (even brisk walking) = no more type 2.

Really!?

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Celebrity-...

Yawn.
The exception which proves the rule.
... And Premiership footballers can suffer heart attacks...
How many type 2's are obese according to their BMI? 90%+ I should imagine.

Not really a yawn is it, the OP came here asking for help and your useful response was to suggest it's a lazy persons disease and the vast majority are obese despite you have no facts to support either of your comments with regards to the OP's wife.

I suggested weight loss & exercise. The harsh truth is that at the point of diagnosis, the vast majority of type 2's are overweight & lead sedentary lives.
Dressing things up by posting a link to Steve Redgrave is only going to muddy the water. Ask your GP what the main causes of type 2 diabetes are & let me know what they say

My point was not about the generalisation, but the fact that you don't know the reason for the OP's wife's diagnosis but if that is lost on you then so be it!

[E38Ross]

many type 2 diabetics are more prone due to familial link....that's a MASSIVE factor in developing type 2 diabetes.

however, if there is a strong hereditary link BUT if said person is of normal weight and is physically active they are MUCH less likely to suffer from the inability to control their blood sugar levels. fact.

[Steffan]

I have had Type 2 Diabetes for 24 years.

When I was diagnosed I weighed well over 25 Stones and 5'9" tall and smoking 60 a day and drinking heavily, in fact an appalling lifestyle. I was 42 years old then.

Having great fun but as all my doctors said, to a man, not for long.

My consultants read the riot act to me and said in a fair way, you have a choice, lose weight or die from Diabetes or the consequences of Diabetes and stop smoking or face death as a result of that habit. And stop drinking.

With a lot of effort and support from my family I changed my lifestyle and lost weight over two years down to 15 stones. I lost just over 10 stones. I have remained thereabouts every since never go over 15 stones. I stopped smoking overnight the shock of the health scare gave me the motivation. I also became and remain teetotal.

Diabetes, in common with many other diseases has a genetic link. However as others have said Diabetes is very much more common amongst the overweight individuals. This is a fact I would suggest your wife should NOT ignore.

My health is probably as good now as it was then. Given that I am 24 years` older there are signs of wear in my healthy. I have various complications like Dupuytren's contracture in the hands, Diabetic Retinopathy in the eyes and so on but all well controlled and manageable by medication. I have various other complications including High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol and Heart disease all of which are controlled by regular treatment.

My advice to your wife would be if you want to live a healthy normal life it can be done see above. With luck, and for that reason, use this sudden shock as an opportunity, to permanently lose weight and never ever put it on again.

Losing weight may even bring your wife back into the normal range of blood sugar. This is NOT a cure your wife would always test as Diabetic with a Diabetic stress test. But it does confirm the undeniable connection between Type 2 Diabetes and being overweight.

This is, in my view the most constructive approach your wife can adopt.

Health is, in many ways, as is so often the case in the UK today, down to personal choice. That would be my recommendation for continued reasonable health and happiness.

[Roger645]

E38Ross said:

many type 2 diabetics are more prone due to familial link....that's a MASSIVE factor in developing type 2 diabetes.

however, if there is a strong hereditary link BUT if said person is of normal weight and is physically active they are MUCH less likely to suffer from the inability to control their blood sugar levels. fact.

I would suggest you also have a read on articles that relate to other factors such as auto-immune diseases such a psoriasis and the link to developing type 2 diabetes. There's another fact for your top-trumps pack of causes for diabetes type 2

[E38Ross]

Roger645 said:

E38Ross said:

many type 2 diabetics are more prone due to familial link....that's a MASSIVE factor in developing type 2 diabetes.

however, if there is a strong hereditary link BUT if said person is of normal weight and is physically active they are MUCH less likely to suffer from the inability to control their blood sugar levels. fact.

I would suggest you also have a read on articles that relate to other factors such as auto-immune diseases such a psoriasis and the link to developing type 2 diabetes. There's another fact for your top-trumps pack of causes for diabetes type 2

Erm, my point still stands despite that fact, does it not.... even if you can't control blood sugar very well due to target cells not being responsive to insulin are you saying that if you have a well balanced diet with a low GI with regular exercise you will be MUCH less likely to suffer the effects of type 2 DM than if you eat a diet with lots of sugar and lack of exercise like most diabetics do?

exercise also helps to increase the sensitivity of target cells to insulin which also helps.

Edited by E38Ross on Sunday 22 April 20:43

[Roger645]

E38Ross said:

Roger645 said:

E38Ross said:

many type 2 diabetics are more prone due to familial link....that's a MASSIVE factor in developing type 2 diabetes.

however, if there is a strong hereditary link BUT if said person is of normal weight and is physically active they are MUCH less likely to suffer from the inability to control their blood sugar levels. fact.

I would suggest you also have a read on articles that relate to other factors such as auto-immune diseases such a psoriasis and the link to developing type 2 diabetes. There's another fact for your top-trumps pack of causes for diabetes type 2

Erm, my point still stands despite that fact, does it not.... even if you can't control blood sugar very well due to target cells not being responsive to insulin are you saying that if you have a well balanced diet with a low GI with regular exercise you will be MUCH less likely to suffer the effects of type 2 DM than if you eat a diet with lots of sugar and lack of exercise like most diabetics do?

exercise also helps to increase the sensitivity of target cells to insulin which also helps.

Edited by E38Ross on Sunday 22 April 20:43

I'm not suggesting anything other then there are other reasons for developing type 2 other than lack of exercise and obesity. As a psoriasis sufferer and therefore at a higher risk of developing the disease I thought the responses were a bit less than sympathetic to the OP's post.

Even though you pointed out that genetics is a large part in the disease you now seem to want to ram your original point home. You suggested I go away and read some journals and come back, maybe you should heed some of your own advice.

On that note I'm done so if you want to take that as a victory then feel free!

[E38Ross]

In fairness, I never stated all diabetics are fat and unfit. I clearly said the majority/generally and said exercise and a good diet would help.

Everything is said was true